They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We beg to differ as sometimes people imitate others to poke fun at them, but when it comes to speaking like a Texan, we know that all y'all only mean the sincerest praise.
Fortunately, as Texans, we're a friendly bunch who are more than happy to oblige. Thanks to the internet, it is super easy to spread the wisdom.
Austin area realtor Craig Smyser created this YouTube video to provide a brief introduction to some of the more prominent Texan jargon like "y'all," "all y'all," "bless your heart," and "fixin'." There's plenty more than these, but they are the big ones to understand.
Further, folks of the WikiHow community have created a helpful guide about to "How to Imitate a Texan Accent." In addition to some common slang (like "madder than a wet hen," which means that someone is furious), their article also shares some tips on pronouncing sounds and syllables as well as some anatomical tips like: "Tighten your jaw and raise the back part of your tongue." The guide also wisely points out some good ol' Lone Star State variety:
Since Texas is a large and well-populated state, influenced on its east side by the dialects of the South, on its inland areas by the Midwest accent, and on its south and west by Mexican Spanish, it's no surprise that there are major accent dialect and accent differences within the state.
As we've mentioned before, Texas is full of all sorts of folks who are very proud of their heritage and customs. Fortunately, Texas is big enough to hold them all.
For all y'all smarty pants book worms out there who want more of an academic point of view, Texas Monthly has some wisdom for y'all. John Nova Lomax spoke with University of Texas at Austin linguist Lars Hinrichs during its 2018 Talk Like a Texan podcast episode "This One is for All Y'all." Dr. Hinrichs explains the origins of "y'all" as well as how it has evolved and is used. Give it a listen, ya hear.
Either way, there's one thing for sure, we know that all y'all will hear the glorious Texan accent whenever visiting a Buc-ee's or H-E-B. There's no doubt we'll carry shirts and other clothing from both stores that have some great Texan sayings on them so that y'all can share y'all's Texan pride and/or fandom no matter where y'all are at.